When the violent radical freedom fighter group that Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) belongs to (named The French 75) liberates an ICE detainment camp, a chaotic chain of events is set into motion that threatens to engulf their teenage daughter, Charlene (Chase Infiniti), years later. With the evil Sgt. Steven L. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) honing in on Charlene, it’s up to Bob to save his daughter.
Leonardo DiCaprio is fucking back, baby!!!! He is the lead of the film, but he isn’t in every single scene like you might suspect (not even close). DiCaprio still looks good-as-hell throughout this, even if he is pretty greasy for most of the run time. He pulls it off. Leo’s Bob is a pretty based individual, even if he is fairly washed-up by the beginning of the second act. Leo’s comedic timing is perfectly on point throughout. Despite DiCaprio acting a good-deal clownish at times, you still really like Bob and root for him.
Teyana Taylor is great as Perfidia. Perfidia isn’t the most likable character as she’s easily the most radical member of the freedom fighters, whereas Bob is definitely radical but a bit more rational. Perfidia is also the head of the group. She isn’t in the film much, but is a very important character.
Sean Penn is perfectly detestable as Sgt. Steven L. Lockjaw (or, as I call him, Tetanus). He’s a total disgusting degenerate freak. He’s also easily villain of the year. You hate him, but you are also afraid of him. Penn brings a never-ending intensity to his depraved role, and becomes the character. Damn, it’s good to see him back on the big screen.
Chase Infiniti (God, what a name!) plays Charlene, Bob’s sixteen year old daughter. She’s blissfully unaware of her dad’s past, but is about to get a terrifying history lesson. This is her first film role, having previously played Jaden on the series Presumed Innocent. Chase shows a command of the screen that is rare for a young adult. She is the core of the film. If you didn’t give a damn about her, the film would fall apart. Luckily, Chase makes Charlene infinitely likable, sympathetic, and relatable. She’s a star in the making.
Benicio Del Toro plays Sergio St. Carlos, Charlene’s karate instructor/sensai and secret protector of undocumented immigrants. Del Toro’s Sergio is cool-as-ice throughout, continually reminding why he is one of the coolest and most bad-ass actors to ever live. He doesn’t appear until the second act and is firmly a supporting character. That said, he’s in the proceedings a good deal, his scenes with Leo are some of the absolute best, and he’s easily one of the most memorable characters here.
Regina Hall plays Deandre, a member of The French 75 who steps in to assist in protecting Charlene. Hall has some memorable moments, but isn’t in the film much. Tony Goldwyn makes an appearance as Virgil Throckmorton, the head of The Christmas Adventurer’s Club, a proud extremity white supremacist organization. Like Hall, he’s not in the film a whole lot. Luckily, he can play a villain in his sleep (Need I remind you he played Carl in Ghost) and makes his secondary antagonist character fun (or as fun as a white supremacist can be) and memorable. John Hoogenakker leaves an impression as Tim, a professional hitman working for The Christmas Adventurer’s Club. He’s intimidating, scary, but has some genuinely funny lines during his first scene.
Paul Thomas Anderson is back in the directing chair. He is one of the greatest living directors of our time, and One Battle After Another continues to prove that in spades. This is a comedic political thriller. Mad props for having the freaking balls to paint the United States Government as bad guys/an antagonistic force and The French 75 as the good guys (flawed? Yes, but undeniably more on the side of good than the Govt. and the military is). There’s even an incredible and jaw-dropping extended protest scene that mostly occurs in the background but is absolute perfection and totally thrilling.
Paul Thomas Anderson also wrote the screenplay, which is (supposedly) somewhat adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. He has to walk a tightrope, but does so with impressive ease. One Battle After Another is really damned funny, but the humor never detracts from the often intense and thrilling events throughout. The humor, political commentary, and intensity/tension are all perfectly balanced, with not one element outweighing another. The entire first act is one long montage (essential for establishing characters and building audience’s connections to them), but the second and third acts play out in regular filmic fashion while never losing the film’s often whip-fast pace
Jonny Greenwood does the jazzy, piano-heavy score and produces some damn fine work. The score is not ever-present, but often feels so. The cinematography is handled by Michael Bauman. The proceedings were shot primarily in VistaVision (much like The Brutalist). While most of One Battle After Another is mostly shot in dry, arid areas the film still looks crisp and good. The VistaVision didn’t really wow in my regular AMC, so you might want to check this out in IMAX to get the full effect.
One Battle After Another runs at close to three hours long, but I didn’t feel the length except for intermittently during the final forty minutes or so. There’s not much else to be said about Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest. It’s about the times we are living in. It’s perfect. It’s a masterpiece. It’s the best film of 2025, and it will likely remain so (at least as far as relevancy goes). Seeing this film counts as an act of protest. VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!!!
5 STARS
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